The Lobi people live in a vast geographical area that stretches from Burkina Fasso, to the Ivory Coast and into Ghana. Villages are spread out over wide areas and are made up of several compounds.

The Lobi community is not organized on the basis of kinship or political ties and lacks any kind of centralized political authority in the form of a chief king or council of village elders. Instead the members of the community are united by common adherence to the cult of a nature spirit called “thil” (pl thila) and the rules that determine correct social behavior in the community are the rules that the spirit dictates through the diviner (thildar). The thila are invisible spirits of nature with certain supernatural abilities and powers that they can use for malevolent or benevolent ends. Each village has a particular spirit (dithil) that is responsible for the entire village.

Social behavior is regulated by these thila, whose will is passed to ordinary people by priests and diviners. Wooden or clay sculpture, called bateba, act as an intermediary between a particular thil and the Lobi community.

Lobi bateba figures have a wide degree of style and are made for a wide range of purposes. In Lobi communities anyone can learn to carve, it is not limited to people with specialized training. Lobi bateba figures are believed to be able to act in behalf of their owner, they are considered a living being and have the ability to act out against forces that could harm it’s owner or bring good things to it’s owner depending on it’s intended purpose.

Very basic definitionsBATEBA - Generally in literature on the Lobi the term "bateba" translates to a "wooden carved figure"

BATEBA PHUWE - Normal or ordinary BatebaThese figures usually have no specific defining posture and are often figures with arms straight down and the figures are looking straight ahead and often have a grim look on the face. These figures can have a variety of different functions.

BATEBA Tl BALA - Unusual or extraordinary Bateba (sub categories Thil Dokra <janus figure>, Betise <mating couple>, maternity figures)Thil Dorka - Figures with two heads represent deities whose ability to see in several directions at once makes them exceptionally dangerous and powerfulBetise - Figures depicting a man and a woman making love (the man always positioned behind the woman) are prescribed for single men so that they find a wife or to women to avoid sterility or wished to have a child.

BATEBA YADAWORA - Sad BatebaSome figures are carved with sad expressions or have a hand touching the face because their function is to mourn for their owners.

BATEBA Tl PUO - Dangerous BatebaOften referred to as Bateba Duntundara as well, these figures are considered dangerous and block entrance to harmful forces such as disease or witchcraft, and are depicted with one or both arms held up.BATEBA BAMBAR - Paralysed BatebaFigures depicting a seated man or woman with their legs stretched out in front of them are called bamgbar/bambar. According to certain soothsayers, these protect children and the elderly from paralysis.

The Lobi often have conflicting interpretations of the meanings of the figures, and there are also varied meanings on similar figures because of regional variances.

References: A History of Art in Africa, Lobi Art and Culture, The Lobi of Burkina Fasso, Lobi Skulpturen

If you are interested in learning more about the Lobi, CLICK HERE to go to some great online reference articles.Link will open in a new window.

Lobi Bateba Phuwe figure (ordinary bateba)

6 3/4" tall

An extraordinary little Lobi figure in my opinion.

Other Lobi figures for reference purposes

The 3 figures below are fantastic in my opinion. The one in the middle is a bateba phuwe figure.

Descriptionbateba, each of similar form, standing on bent muscular legs leading to rounded hips and elongated barrel-shaped torsos beneath a shelf-like chest, the rounded heads with sensitively carved facial features including pursed lips, pointed noses and heavy-lidded eyes, the male with a single-crested coiffure, the female wearing a cap-like coiffure; fine encrusted and varied greyish brown patina.

Dimensionsheights 31in. and 25 1/4 in. 78.7cm and 64.1cm

Estimate:$ 18,000 - $ 22,000 Price Realized:$ 19,200

ProvenancePROPERTY FROM A NEW YORK PRIVATE COLLECTION

Jan Visser, Amsterdam

Morton Dimondstein, Los Angeles

Sotheby's New York, May 5, 1997, lot 96

NotesLarge-scale figures such as this pair were shrine figures and used to communicate with supernatural beings to insure the unity of the community (Meyer 1981: 56-57). Lobi figures are usually depicted in a columnar, geometric style. This slightly more naturalistic pair exceptionally conveys a delicate expressionistic quality rare in Lobi works of art.

DescriptionDETAILED DESCRIPTIONthe elongated cylindrical neck supporting the head with a finely arching jawline leading to the pointed chin beneath the full, parted lips baring teeth, the naturalistic nose framed by large protruding almond-shaped eyes and a delicately curved browline, with demilune ears pierced for attachment and wearing a backswept, ridged coiffure with a pendant flange at the nape of the neck; exceptionally fine varied and weathered greyish brown patina with areas of white deposits.

Dimensionsheight 13 1/4 in. 33.5cm

Estimate:$ 18,000 - $ 22,000 Price Realized:$ 42,000

ProvenancePROPERTY FROM AN AMERICAN PRIVATE COLLECTORJacques Kerchache, Paris, circa 1975

In Lobi cosmogony, Thil Dokpa are spirits of the bush, above human beings and below Thila, invisible spirit creatures with human properties and characteristics. Thil Dokpa "are considered as living beings, active from the moment they are set upon an altar... They are then able to see, to communicate between themselves, and to protect and help humans in many ways and in various practical domains of daily life...once installed on the altars, [they] become active auxiliaries of the invisible spirits, the Thila, against witchcraft, evil spells and sickness and, on the other hand, to bring wealth, fertility, marriage, strength and happiness to whomever places them on his altar."(Giovanni Franco Scanzi 1987:31, 34)

Provenance:Parcours des Mondes, Paris, September 2004

Photos of the Lobi shrines from:http://www.dogon-lobi.ch/lobialbum.htm

The impetus for the creation of these works and the manner in which they should ideally appear came from spirits who conveyed the desired images through the medium of a diviner. Their subsequent realization fulfilled a prescription that resulted in curing an ailment or otherwise relieving some personal difficulty.

According to Lobi conceptions of existence, God (thangba yu), the Creator of all life on earth, is an abstract and distant force.(1) More directly engaged in human experience are the thila, invisible and bodiless beings endowed with superhuman powers and abilities. Through the medium of diviners (buor), the thila issue injunctions against certain kinds of behavior; anyone who violates them will be punished with an ailment or some other misfortune. They also provide the means to reverse these conditions by prescribing cures and protective measures, also conveyed through buor.

This dynamic was set in place by thangba yu in order to establish standards of political, social, and moral order in Lobi society, which humans had been incapable of managing by themselves. At the time of creation, according to oral traditions, humankind had enjoyed a carefree state in which thangba yu had provided for all its needs, a world where sickness and death were unknown, as were war or conflict of any kind. As a requirement of these idyllic conditions, thangba yu prohibited adultery and killing—commandments that were violated when the population grew out of control. Consequently, thangba yu retreated forever, leaving humanity to provide for itself and vulnerable to suffering and mortality. To mitigate this isolation, the Creator assigned to the thila the responsibility of responding to human needs and protecting people against witchcraft and sorcery.

The directives (bonoo) given to individuals through buor are very exacting and must be fulfilled with precision. Failure to do so is thought to lead either to some form of punishment by the thila or to the persistence of the difficulties being experienced. Because they are amorphous beings, the thila depend on human mediums to communicate their instructions. Thila select individuals to fulfill this role by revealing themselves directly to them, or through notifying other diviners. Individuals usually resist this calling, as it is considered an onerous responsibility in view of the time commitment it represents and its lack of remuneration. Training is relatively informal and consists of observing consultations and rituals and learning the signs that the thila use to communicate.(2)

Individuals consult diviners to gain insight into a broad range of situations that concern them. They enter into this relationship without describing the problem at hand. Instead, the diviner positions himself beside the client, grasps his hand, and, in order to determine independently the nature of the problem and which thila is involved in this particular situation, poses a series of questions that can be responded to with "yes" or "no" answers. Responses are indicated through specific movements of their joined hands.(3) A diagnosis ultimately reveals behavioral prohibitions that must be followed, sacrifices that are required, and instructions that may request the construction of a shrine or the commissioning of figural sculpture (bateba).(4)

Small wood figurines are often part of the collection of paraphernalia owned by the buor, whereas works that are commissioned to fulfill prescriptions are larger in scale. The sculptor (bateba thel), who may himself have been directed toward his vocation by his thila, carefully follows the guidelines for such works, provided by the spirits through the diviner.(5) This couple represents a unified vision of the human form but displays subtle distinctions between the male and female figures. Although the female is slightly smaller in scale, she shares the same bold rectilinear cast, crisply rendered features, and gradually swelling torso with a pronounced navel. Both are depicted in a state of intense concentration, eyes closed and lips pursed, the male figure facing forward while his female counterpart turns her head in profile. This creates a dramatic shift between the orientation of their bodies and her gaze.

Lobi figural sculptures commissioned as a result of a divination consultation represent tibila thil, people who help a spirit, and are designed to be placed in a residential or public shrine.(6) These two figures are thought to be bateba duntundara, a genre of bateba that serve to shield their owner against the witches that might attempt to enter his or her home.(7) Duntundara can be found in a broad range of representations, including figures that gesture dramatically or feature unusual physiological characteristics such as multiple heads or arms. Standing with their arms at their sides, this couple falls into a category of "plain" (phuwe) figures. Despite their tranquil stance, they embody an attitude of vigilance and acute awareness that surpasses ordinary reliance on sensory perception and intimidates potential malefactors.